Prior to the advent of the present invention, there has been a long-felt need for a simple, lightweight, portable and inexpensive hunter'tree stand which can be easily transported from place to place and which permits of ease of mounting in or on the tree to provide a stable seat for the hunter as he waits for the particular game being sought. Numerous types of tree stands have been developed over the years and are presently available in the marketplace. For the most part, however, such tree stands are of the type which are intended to be supported on the side of the tree in cantilever fashion. Such tree stands commonly employ rather complex and cumbersome mounting arrangements in an effort to provide a safe and stable perch; but, despite their complexity, such stands have traditionally proved to be unstable and unsafe in use and, further, they are relatively expensive and not easily transported by the hunter.
Typical of the foregoing types of tree stands are those disclosed in, for example: U.S. Pat. No. 2,855,980--Konieczka; U.S. Pat. No. 3,419,108--Mobbs; U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,835--Butler; and, U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,686--Starkey. In general, each of the foregoing patents discloses a portable seat that can be utilized by a hunter and which incorporates support means adapted to engage and/or bite into one side of a tree or pole to form a cantilever-type seat extending laterally from the side of the tree, and suitable chains, cables or straps associated therewith and adapted to extend circumferentially around the tree for holding the stand in place. Generally, such devices tend to be difficult to install, particularly when the hunter desires to mount the seat at an elevation of 10', 15', or more, above ground level. The support elements that must be incorporated with such devices are not only quite cumbersome and heavy, but they are also difficult to stow and transport from place to place.
A somewhat modified and simplified portable tree seat has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,252--Tiley, which includes a seat having a centrally disposed screw-threaded support rod adapted to be screwed directly into the tree in a horizontal plane and a pair of V-shaped legs having pointed lower extremities with the V-shaped legs being hingedly connected to the seat at its outboard end and the free extremities imbedded into the tree. While such a tree stand is characterized by its lightness in weight and its portability, the cantilever nature of the device does not provide a stable seat characterized by its ability to support the weight of the average adult hunter.
In yet another approach disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,944,022--Ming, the patentee provides a tree stand having tubular runners which are interconnected by a pair of crossbars that are movable towards and away from one another along the runners with each crossbar being provided with teeth projecting in a horizontal plane towards the other crossbar. One crossbar is in the form of a stand or seat having a V-shaped notch at its inboard end and with teeth projecting inwardly towards the tree from the V-shaped notch. Thus, it is contemplated that the unit be disassembled and positioned about the tree with the stand and V-shaped notch engaged with one side of the tree, at which point the second crossbar is again installed on the runners and moved into clamping relationship with the trunk of the tree. In essence, the device contemplates a cantilever-type support extending laterally from the side of the tree.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,080--Wells, the patentee discloses a hunter's tree stand employing a platform-like member having notches in its opposed ends and adapted to slide down between two diverging tree branches and to be jammed in position therebetween. In an attempt to improve stability, the tree stand includes hinged legs formed on its undersurface together with a suitable turnbuckle arrangement for forcing the legs laterally apart and into engagement with the two diverging branches.
However, despite the available types of hunter's tree stands as exemplified by the foregoing patents, the need persists for a lightweight, inexpensive and highly portable tree stand employing relatively few movable components and which not only permits of ease in portability, but also ease in erection and which insures a firm, stable and safe seat for the hunter irrespective of the hunter's size or weight.